Sheng Hong, executive director of independent think tank, was due to attend a seminar on China’s 40 years of reform and opening upHis colleague Jiang Hao was also stopped from leaving Beijing for same event
The director of an independent Chinese think tank has been barred from leaving the country to attend a seminar at Harvard University on the grounds that he would “endanger national security”, as Beijing continues to silence liberals critical of its policies.
Sheng Hong, executive director of the prominent Unirule Institute of Economics, was due to attend a symposium at the American university reflecting on China’s 40 years of reform and opening up.
But the liberal economist was stopped at Beijing Capital International Airport from leaving for his flight to Boston on Thursday morning.
“They told me I would endanger national security and was not allowed to leave the country,” Shen told the South China Morning Post on Monday. “I was completely shocked. How can my attendance at an academic conference affect national security? This is absolutely absurd,” he said.
Sheng’s colleague, Jiang Hao, a researcher and acting deputy director of Unirule, was also stopped from leaving Beijing on Saturday for the same event.
“Unirule is obviously being targeted here,” Jiang said, adding that border control officers did not give him any explanation for why he could not leave the country.
Beijing’s entry and exit administration could not be reached for comment on Monday.
The four-day seminar begins on Monday and marks the 40th anniversary of China’s economic liberalisation introduced by late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.
